VOLUME 7 NUMBER 1 (January to June 2014)

Philipp. Sci. Lett. 2014 7 (1) 228-240
available online: June 14, 2014

*Corresponding author
Email Address: krodolfo@uic.edu
Received: February 6, 2014

COMMENTARY

On the geological hazards that threaten existing and proposed reclamations of Manila Bay

Kelvin S. Rodolfo

Professor Emeritus of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at
   Chicago
   Corresponding Member, National Academy of Science and Technology

The Philippine Reclamation Authority (2011) has identified 102 near-shore reclamation projects covering 38, 272 hectares in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Of these, 38 projects with an aggregate area of 26,234 hectares are intended to reclaim virtually the entire near-shore zone of Manila Bay (Figure 1). The ongoing rush to execute several of these projects is alarming in how little its proponents seem to understand the littoral environment, and their seeming indifference to the hazards it poses.